The Hindu Business Line : ‘Young Men, go East’

When America was still the New World, “Young Man, go West!” used to be the exhortation to have them all go explore new frontiers for success. Esko Aho, former Prime Minister of Finland says it’s now time to say, “Young Men, go East!”

Addressing a dinner gathering shortly after participating in a folk music festival inauguration last month in Kaustinen, Finland, Aho said, “That’s what I’d say to the people of Finland. Go to India and seek out opportunities there. That’s the place to explore.” Aho currently heads Sitra, a Finnish Innovation Fund, whose focus activities include Healthcare, Food & Nutrition, Environment, Russia and India. Even though two countries stand as odd men out in that list of five, it is easy to understand Russia’s presence there; Russia has been a neighbour and has had more than a little influence in the history of Finland. But, India?

Why is a former Prime Minister of a developed European country, whose per capita GDP is among the highest in the world, talking so vehemently in favour of India? Put the question to him and he says, “We try to check what’s going to happen in the global arena which is of interest and we saw that the emergence of India is of one of those things that demanded cognition. We wanted to raise interest in and awareness of India.”

Aho came to Sitra in 2004. He says, “At the time, I had an opportunity to select new programmes. Immediately, I understood India is an opportunity for us. And, significantly, Sitra is able to operate in areas as yet uncovered by other institutions. We noticed that no one was taking care of the issue of India at the time. Now, we have had exchange of experts in the university and research centre levels and the situation is improving. Sitra, at its Web site, calls this effort its ‘India programme’ and goes so far as to say, “Finland to join India phenomenon”.

He indicated that the average daily issue of Indian visas to Finnish visitors was up from about 40 a year ago to about 200 now. In the peak season, it could go as high as 400-500 in a day. Interestingly, Finnair flies twice daily to India, from Helsinki to New Delhi and to Mumbai.

He feels that the economies of Finland and India are ‘complementary’. “You have what we lack in information and communication technologies. Vice-versa when it comes to healthcare and environmental technologies. In the area of environment, India has a lot of opportunities to outsource to us.”

Why is it that important to raise awareness of India in Finland?

“Globalised Finnish companies now know that an India presence is necessary to preserve their competitiveness. That has encouraged Nokia and the others to invest there. I am now concerned with medium-sized companies seeing expansion into India.” - KBK